Sir Michael Stoute

There were stage-managed fireworks exploding from Epsom's stands minutes before the 243rd staging of the G1 Cazoo Derby In Memory of Lester Piggott, but the real pyrotechnics were provided on the grass by Saeed Suhail's superb Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}--Desert Berry {GB}, by Green Desert) as he proved a class apart in this special edition. Sent off the 5-2 favourite for a race which looked deep both numerically and in terms of talent and promise, the unbeaten TDN Rising Star marked the occasion with a performance to place alongside...

Saturday's G1 Cazoo Derby is no ordinary Derby, being placed squarely in the Platinum Jubilee celebrations and bearing the title "In Memory of Lester Piggott", so the onus is on the latest collection of elite middle-distance colts to rise to the occasion. Famed for his ability to pick and choose in his heyday, the question is what would the Longfellow have opted for in this line-up? Few would say anything other than the edition's pop idol Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), whose Dante win had all the purists pricking up...

With Roger Varian trainee Eydon (Ire) (Olden Times {GB}) scratched from Epsom's G1 Cazoo Derby on Wednesday afternoon, the remaining 17 contenders all stood their ground at Thursday morning's declaration stage. Sir Michael Stoute seeks a sixth Blue Riband with Saeed Suhail's undefeated G2 Dante S. winner Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) and the TDN Rising Star will depart from the 12 box. Godolphin's supplementary entry Nations Pride (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) has been allocated stall five with stablemate Walk of Stars (GB) (Frankel {GB}) set to start from stall nine....

Sandown witnessed something truly special on Thursday evening as James Wigan and Ballylinch Stud's Bay Bridge (GB) (New Bay {GB}--Hayyona {GB}, by Multiplex {GB}) brought up a sensational 12th renewal of the G3 Coral Brigadier Gerard S. for Sir Michael Stoute. The way the seasonal debutante hit the line with five lengths to spare over Shadwell's exciting Mostahdaf (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), who was previously unbeaten here, with Addeybb (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}) another length away in third, it is hard to say that any of the former Freemason Lodge winners of...

Connections of G1 Cazoo Derby favourite Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) were left purring after a scintillating exercise gallop on Thursday as Sir Michael Stoute put the finishing touches on what could become the legendary trainer's sixth win in the Classic. Stoute will forever be remembered for managing Shergar (Ire) to win the Derby in 1981 and followed up on that breakthrough success in the race with Shahrastani (1986), Kris Kin (2003), North Light (Ire) (2004) and Workforce (GB) (2010). Desert Crown advertised the trainer's claims of bolstering his Derby...

Saeed Suhail's 'TDN Rising Star' Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), who won the G2 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Dante S. at York on May 12, will continue his association with jockey Richard Kingscote in the G1 Cazoo Derby on June 4, according to trainer Sir Michael Stoute. A Nottingham maiden winner in November, the colt delivered a 3 1/4-length victory in the Dante and would become the sixth winner of the Blue Riband for the veteran trainer if he captured the 1 1/2-mile contest. "He has ridden him plenty of...

The G1 Cazoo Derby just got much more interesting after TDN Rising Star Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}--Desert Berry {GB}, by Green Desert) injected much-needed adrenaline into the mix by registering an impressive success in Thursday's G2 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Dante S. at York. Sir Michael Stoute may have tried to hide the light of Saeed Suhail's once-raced colt under a bushel, describing him as "workmanlike" at home, but the news about him had nevertheless spread like wildfire through Newmarket and now we know why. Impressive enough on his...

It's May, it's sunny, it's the Dante meeting in the county of England known as "God's Own Country" and we have a Sir Michael Stoute Derby plunge horse about to appear. While the kingpin of Newmarket is still prepared to train racehorses, there will continue to be moments like these and this time the bearer of the Freemason Lodge standard is the unbeaten 'TDN Rising Star' Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) in Thursday's G2 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Dante S. Bred at Gary Robinson's Teversham-based Strawberry Fields Stud, Saeed Suhail's...

Less than a fortnight after it was announced that legendary trainer Kevin Prendergast would remain on the Shadwell roster, the 89-year-old operator confirmed that he was not the retiring kind and spoke for the first time since Hamdan Al Maktoum's passing about his long and successful relationship with the hugely influential owner. The Shadwell operation has been winding down gradually since Hamdan Al Maktoum passed away just over a year ago and, while major operators like Dermot Weld and Sir Michael Stoute will no longer train any of the horses...

In the concluding part of the series reflecting on the Queen's long attachment to thoroughbred racing and breeding, John Berry considers the prospect of a royal Derby runner in the year of the Platinum Jubilee The most significant addition to the royal roster of trainers came in the autumn of 1966, when some of that year's yearlings were sent to the West Ilsley stable of Major Dick Hern. This was the start of a wonderful partnership, which in time saw Hern become as synonymous with the royal string as formerly...

Saeed Suhail's hitherto untried 280,000gns Tattersalls October Book 2 acquisition Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) was let go at 11-1 for division one of Wednesday's MansionBet Bet £10 Get £20 EBF Maiden S. at Nottingham and, while still a diamond in the rough, came home stylishly to earn 'TDN Rising Star' status on debut. The eventual winner accepted a tow in third after breaking on the front end in an extended one-mile heat won in 2019 by MG1SW globetrotter Mishriff (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}) and in 2018 by MG1SW speedster...

2.35 Kempton, Mdn, £16,000, 2yo, 7f (AWT) DUNGEON (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) debuts in the James Wigan silks sported by the accomplished dam Dank (GB) (Dansili {GB}) as she garnered the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf and GI Beverly D. S. Sir Michael Stoute is also in charge of this February-foaled colt, who meets Gestut Ammerland's fellow newcomer Barqi (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}), a John and Thady Gosden-trained colt whose family includes the owner-breeder's high-class Boreal (Ger) (Java Gold) and Borgia (Ger) (Acatenango {Ger}).